Leaders from Oregon State University’s human resources department held a forum yesterday to discuss future plans for two diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
This comes after the recent announcement of the closures of the Search Advocacy Program and the Social Justice Education Initiative.
According to Vice Provost for Human Resources and Chief Human Resources Officer Heather Horn, the functions of Search – including training – will now be handled by the university’s HR department.
Because many employees have already gone through Search training, Horn said that discontinuing the program will not so much get rid of the program as it will expand it, as its core functions have been integrated into other programs.
Director of Academic HR Strategies Carolyn Warfield said that OSU’s outreach hasn’t changed. Rather, moving away from these programs actually shows respect for Search and SJEI by moving forward with ideas in many different ways.
In lieu of the traditional training required to become Search certified, Hunt said there will be a training manual available online for Search participants.
Horn addressed concerns that the discontinuation of these programs is a sign that OSU is stepping back on its dedication to equity and inclusion. This is “emphatically not the case,”
she said.
Horn pointed to OSU’s involvement in a Harvard University lawsuit against Donald Trump to claim that the university’s decision is not influenced by federal pressure.
The forum featured an open discussion that featured impassioned responses from students and faculty against the changes.
Extension Communications Business Support Specialist Amy Baker said that the new, online training for Search will set a low barrier for entry, that no online training can compare to the experience brought by the current, hands on approach.
Baker said that OSU is setting up to be a bad role model for other institutions with their new plans.
Open Educational Resources Director Stefanie Buck found the lack of transparency involving the decision to discontinue these programs “disturbing.”
With this being done in the summer when most students and faculty are gone, Buck questioned what this move will look like to students, especially those from diverse backgrounds who benefit from DEI programs.
Buck also said that she was concerned about how little she was hearing about SJEI.
New library hire Jackson Brenner-Smith said he was excited by the Search program when he was hired. He encouraged HR leaders to reconsider cutting Search and SJEI because doing so would “result in the collapse of (these programs’) efforts.”
The College of Agricultural Sciences’ Administrative Manager Elizabeth Thomas questioned why communications about these decisions were hushed and hidden on ListServs with little information made available to the public.
Thomas said she wondered how new Search participants would be trained and where HR would get the extra bandwidth to conduct trainings, as they are already so busy.
Associated Students of OSU President Kayla Ramirez said that students recognize what OSU is doing. Students are watching the administration, she said, and find their actions to be appalling.
Ramirez said that the university is not serving its students.
Molly Chambers, the Office of Advocacy’s associate advocate, asked why the decision whether or not to discontinue the programs was “either/or” rather than “yes, and?”
Chambers said that she “felt ashamed” to be a faculty member after the decision was made.
The College of Science’s Associate Director of Student Engagement Gabs James said that Search Advocacy Director Anne Gillies and SJEI Director Jane Waite have “changed lives,” and that equity is a part of OSU’s identity.
James wondered if HR was the best department to take over these programs. According to James, HR has a history of compliance and may not be the best fit for them.
At the end of the forum, Horn thanked participants for voicing their questions and concerns. Horn said that she and other HR leaders had a “great deal” to go back and consider.